Cor-Crane Secret
Cor-Crane Secret is the first studio album by North Carolina indie rock band Polvo. It was recorded at Duck Kee Studios in Raleigh, North Carolina, and released on Merge Records in 1992.
Cor-Crane Secret | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1992 | |||
Recorded | January 2-5, 1992 | |||
Genre | Indie rock, noise rock, math rock | |||
Length | 38:24 | |||
Label | Merge Records | |||
Polvo chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Tiny Mix Tapes | very favorable[2] |
Singles
Different versions of "Can I Ride" and "Vibracobra" appeared on the band's first two 7" releases in 1991. Another version of "In the Hand, In the Sieve" appeared on the band's split 7" EP with Erectus Monotone.
Reception
According to Jason Anderson of Allmusic, the "Critically embraced" debut of the band "deserves notice for its scope and imaginative guitars. However, Cor-Crane Secret sounds brittle when compared to the work of more accomplished '90s guitar bands like Built to Spill, Pavement, and Sonic Youth." He notes the "band's tendency to meander through long patches of dissonant but artful guitar structures [that] vigorously challenges the average rock attention span" and that they "dare themselves into overpowering their own rich songwriting" on the album.[1] According to David Sprague of Trouser Press, the band's "lengthy, enigmatic songs have far more in common with Gentle Giant and ELP (on a budget, of course) than anything contemporary, and its disavowal of hooks is all but complete" on their debut album which "quickly laid down the clinical gauntlet", criticizing Bowie's "unsteady" vocals.[3]
A retrospective piece on the album published by Tiny Mix Tapes finds it "filled with ideas. We hear guitars played like sitars (“Ox Scapula”), rubber bands (“Bend or Break”), and theremins (“The Curtain Remembers”)." It also lists a large number of influences spread across its tracks, despite noting that "all of these seemingly incongruent elements form something remarkably coherent", ending the piece by calling it "years ahead of most rock music coming out today."[2] According to The A.V. Club, the album "set a standard for post-Sonic Youth art-rock that few bands (outside of Polvo itself) could top."[4]
In popular culture
A different take of the song "Can I Ride" released the year before on a 7-inch single was featured, alongside the band, on the film Half-Cocked.[5]
Track listing
- "Vibracobra" - 4:47
- "Kalgon" - 2:02
- "Bend or Break" - 5:24
- "Can I Ride" - 3:44
- "Sense of It" - 2:35
- "Ox Scapula" - 1:41
- "Channel Changer" - 4:28
- "In the Hand, In the Sieve" - 2:32
- "The Curtain Remembers" - 3:25
- "Well Is Deep" - 4:41
- "Duped" - 2:57
Personnel
- Ash Bowie - vocals, guitar
- Dave Brylawski - vocals, guitar
- Steve Popson - bass
- Eddie Watkins - drums
References
- Anderson, Jason. Cor-Crane Secret at AllMusic
- "DeLorean: Polvo - Cor-Crane Secret (1992)". Tiny Mix Tapes.
- "TrouserPress.com :: Polvo". www.trouserpress.com.
- "Polvo: In Prism". Music.
- "Various - Half-Cocked". Discogs.